The IDCU is currently working on a number of EU Projects, more specifically Joint Actions (JAs).
1: Increased Access to Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants (AcToVax4NAM)
• The general objective of the AcToVax4NAM project is the improvement of Vaccination Literacy (VL) and access and thereby vaccination uptake for Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM) making access conditions more equitable and guaranteed. The project will target Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) that are part of the National Immunization Plans and will adopt a life course approach. Covid-19 vaccination will be considered in all the project’s activities, within the logic of promotion of equal access to relevant vaccination services for NAM.
• Start date: 1st May 2021; End Date: 30th April 2024
2: VEBIS – Vaccine Effectiveness Burden and Impact Studies of Covid-19 and Influenza
• The project consists of surveillance of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) as well as COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness studies run on SARI Surveillance data.
• Start date: June 2022; End date: June 2023
VEBIS is a continuation of SARI Surveillance and COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness projects in which Malta participated from February 2021 till June 2022.
3: EHR-SARI – Electronic Health Records
• A surveillance project focusing on surveillance of key infectious diseases/indicators using electronic health records.
• Start date: September 2022; End date: May 2023
4: SHARP – Strengthened International Health Regulations & Preparedness in the EU
• SHARP Joint Action aims to strengthen preparedness in the EU against serious cross-border threats to health and support the implementation of International Health Regulations (2005).
• Start date: 2019; End date: September 2023
5: TERROR – Strengthened preparedness and response to biological and chemical terror attacks
• JA TERROR’s main objectives are to address gaps in health preparedness and to strengthen cross-sectoral work with security, civil protection, and health sectors response to biological and chemical terror attacks.
• Start date: December 2019 – still ongoing due to COVID
6: United4Surveillance (Union and National Capacity Building 4 IntegraTED Surveillance) of the Joint Action on Integrated Surveillance
• The aim of the JA is to provide resources for capacity building for Member States to strengthen integrated surveillance.
• Start date: January 2023; End date: December 2025
The IDCU has also recently completed participation in the following Joint Action:
1: COVID 19 waste Water Testing and Surveillance.
• The general objective of the COVID 19 waste Water Testing and Surveillance is to track SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater so communities can act quickly to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This project helps in transforming independent local efforts into a robust, sustainable national surveillance system.
The IDCU as a recognised EPIET training site
The IDCU is a recognised training site for EPIET (European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training) which is an ECDC fellowship programme. The unit has been a recognised training site since 2016 and until now has hosted a total of 4 EPIET fellows. The aim of the programme is to provide state-of-the-art training in field epidemiology, enabling its fellows to apply epidemiological methods to a wide range of public health problems in Europe. This aims to create a network of highly trained field epidemiologists in the European Union, thereby strengthening the public health epidemiology workforce at EU Member States and EEA level.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/epiet-euphem/about